Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Tangleroot Palace: Stories

I so badly wanted my Monstress fix that I went and read an entirely unrelated short story collection just because it was written by the same author. So do with that what you will.

This whole collection has a vibe like a dark fairy tale. Even though three of the stories are ones I would not label “fantasy,” they all had the same mood of magic gone dark and twisted and violent even when there was no magic in the story at all. Several of them also contain forests that are magically twisted and/or otherwise dangerous, but I’m not sure what to make of that theme.

The emphasis in these stories is on the darkness in humans. A lot of the worlds are magical and twisted, but it’s the humans who make them violent and dangerous. There are things out there that can hurt you, but the ones who will do the most damage are frightened and angry people, and you won’t see it coming.

Personally, I like stories that aren’t afraid to go dark. Every single story in this collection goes hard on blood and trauma. That makes it a very intense reading experience – not the kind of book it’s easy to read straight through. The breaks between stories provide a nice opportunity to take a break from all the feelings and trauma in the stories.

None of these stories particularly stood out to me, but none of them were bad. Each was unique and compelling and did a great job grabbing my emotions. It’s not really the Monstress fix I wanted when I picked it up, and I think that prevents me from unequivocally saying it’s awesome, but these stories are all very good.

Content Warnings

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I love a good short story collection, and this one was no exception! I was enthralled by the gorgeous cover when I received an ARC of this book through a bookseller friend. Liu explains in the forward that she wrote all of these stories over the course of several years for other anthologies, and then collected them here and made a few edits for this collection (while trying to resist the urge to make substantial changes).

I'd only read one of the stories before, when it was featured in The Starlit Wood anthology. "The Briar and the Rose" is near and dear to my heart, as it was one of the tales I included in my senior year capstone project during undergrad. I was able to take my copy of The Starlit Wood and do a side-by-side comparison to see what changes Liu had made, which was a fun experience.

As with most anthologies, I didn't love all of the stories, but I enjoyed enough of them that I wholeheartedly recommend this collection to fans of speculative fiction. Whether you're interested in bone witches, Lex Luthor fan fiction, or Amish vampires, you'll find something here to enjoy!

Content Warnings

doomham's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jamesflint's review

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4.0

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